“We’ve identified the markets for both the bast [long] fibre and the hurd [short fibres],” says spokesman Don Dewar.

“We have prospective customers. One is a major supplier of hurds into the bedding market in Europe. It’s a French company, but it has a Canadian office and is looking at supplying the hurds into North America. The other is a company that recycles cardboard.”

Dewar says the plant would create 20 jobs and bring in $4 million a year for local hemp farmers.

Dewar and the Parkland Industrial Hemp Growers co-op want the provincial and federal government to kick in about $6 million, which would be paid back. Dewar says the provincial government is on board, but the federal government has no yet committed; he hopes to meet with officials from both levels of government within the next couple of weeks.

Dewar says they will not solicit investment from the general public until they develop a market and get support from governments and banks.